Chapter 6: Chapter 3-3
Holley fixes up his stature and stands straight, "I could ask you the same thing; and um, who are you again? And why did you call me cousin?" asked Holley as he rubs the dust off from his arm — dust he got from the boy, which he thought was dirt from the bush or in the forest overall.
"Oh, me? My name is Asher — Asher Vivienne! Son of Jared and Alaysha Vivienne; and the eldest brother of my three siblings: two annoying twins, and one coming soon; which I am very excited about… Maybe" squabbled the boy, now revealed to be Asher.
"Oh…And I am Holle-"
"Holley Vivienne, Son of my Aunt: Anna Vivienne; I already know who you are cousin! Hehe"
"Oh! You must be the one Aunt Alaysha was looking for," said Holley.
"Wait, my mom is looking for me?! Like right now?! At this moment we're speaking?! Oh no, I'm going to need a lot more bushes to hide in, maybe even a whole new forest; or maybe I need to jump off this island…Oh…I forgot that I don't have wings".
Holley sighs but showed a weak smile towards Asher, trying to talk to him while not becoming shy or nervous, "By the way, why are you here in the forest Asher?".
"Exploring! It's not every day that I get to explore a floating island in the world, so here I am! Although, I think my mother would surely kill me if she finds me, but hey, floating islands means exploration!" said the boy as he places his fist on his chest as it pushes out, "How about you Holley? What are you doing here?".
"What does he mean by floating islands?" Holley thought but decided to ignore it.
"Oh me? I am here to g-." Suddenly he bolted out of the ground at his realization, "The nectar! Oh no, I forgot about the nectar!" He quickly runs past Asher and looks through the bushes to find the missing jar of nectar, but to no avail; he began to sigh at his disappointment.
"Ah…forgive me, mother," he said under his breath as clenched his hand.
As he knelt down on his one knee, Asher walked up to him, looking down with an eyebrow turning high, "Are you okay? You seem like you're about to punch the ground or something".
Holley slowly looks at him with heavy eyes then turns back to the ground, sighing another breath at his failure, "I lost something that my mother told me to get; well, so that she could make something for your mother to eat actually"
"But…I guess I will be going back empty-handed; well, other than finding you" said Holley as he stands up and raise his head to look at the leaves again.
While Holley gazed at the trees, Asher places his hand on his chin, thinking about something; he muttered small words, and then his face gaped. He suddenly waves his hand over the back of his pants, trying to find something along with its pockets.
"Do you mean this?" As Asher waves his hand out, a gust of yellow dust flows out of his pocket, and as Holley turns his head to see, he jumped with his arms high up.
"The nectar!" he gasped in his relief, "Where did you get that?!"
"Oh, I got this from a broken jar laying on the ground and I saw the nectar seeping out of it, and I thought: Wow, nectar! My mom is going to love this, and then I came across you, I guess this is yours." He holds his hand in front of him, circling it to turn the nectar dust into one ball, then extending his hand further towards Holley.
Holley looks at Asher's hand where the ball of nectar floated above it, he looks back at Asher as he rubs the back of his head, "Um, I don't have a backup jar with me"
Asher stares at Holley with a confused look, with perked lips and his eyebrows turned up, then he realizes, "Oh! I forgot that you're not an elf, my bad." He waves his hand again to make the nectar go back to his back pocket; he pats it as the last speck of nectar enters the pocket, "I'll hold onto this for you then"
"Thank you for finding it Asher, really!"
"Oh, don't mention it, besides, it is a hell of an impression to make as your cousin for the first time. Haha!" He pats Holley on the shoulder, maybe a little too hard.
After Holley and Asher dusted themselves off from dust, they both walked out of the forest and towards the garden of the Gracewood Mansion, where they sat to catch their breaths from the long walk. Holley sat on a mound of grass, panting silently as he rests; while Asher sat on a large rock with his legs crossed, yawning and panting as he rubs his eyes.
"You know, I thought you would carry me up here since you're an angel or whatnot, don't you have wings?" bickered Asher as he lays stretches legs.
Holley looks at him with a slight scowl, "My wings are not yet fully grown for me to use them since I am still a child my mother said. I thought Uncle told you about it," replied Holley as he rubs his wrists.
"Nope, I think my father thought that it wasn't needed you know, since my sisters and I are elves like my mother; don't know about the coming one though," said Asher jumping off the rock.
Holley takes a deep breath and then stands up, rubbing his bottom off of dirt, "Oh yeah, I forgot. I mean, this day was the first I heard about the elves in the world, so I might be a little confused about"
Asher quickly turns his head to Holley, his mouth open and his eyes wide in his surprise, "You didn't know until now?! I thought Aunt Anna told you already"
"I guess my mother forgot about it or something"
"Do you know about Cherubim?" asks Asher quickly.
"Yes of course I know about the Cherubim, we have a cherub named Jeram in our home"
Asher touches his chin and looks above in thought, "What about the Wolven, I'm sure you've heard of them?"
"Um, Sorry. Still a no"
Asher surprised face turn into a shocked one, with his mouth wide open and his eyes as wide as Holley could see, making him nervous and embarrassed for not knowing about the questions he was asking. Asher suddenly waves his hand and the nectar flew out of his pocket, using both of his hands to make it float. He closes his eyes as he holds his hand in front of him where the nectar floated.
"Wait, what are you doing?" asks Holley.
"I'm trying to make the nectar form into a wolven's by imagining it in my head, even though I didn't listen to my mother's lecture about this power most of the time"
"Oh, come on, you don't have to that," said Holley worryingly as he sees Asher's head veins popping out and wondering if the nectar would be destroyed if he did so.
They stood there together in bated breath; Asher trying so hard to concentrate from the amounts of different things circling through his head, and Holley worryingly pacing on the grass as he waits for Asher to finish shaping the nectar. A few moments went by, then the nectar moved, slowly forming into a shape. First, the nectar moved forward, forming a nose and a mouth, slowly making its way up to the eyes and chin; Holley looked at the sight with his full attention and with his toes about to jump. As Holley stared at the forming nectar, slowly shaping the eyes and the rest of the face; something happened.
"BOOM!" The nectar exploded, pumping its surroundings full of yellow smoke which blinded Holley.
Holley puts his elbow on his eyes as he tries to wave away the smoke, making everything look clearer and clearer; and as Holley slowly removes his elbow, he blinks at a blurry vision of a figure in front of him, it looked like a face, but he wasn't sure because of the blurriness. After a few blinks, he moves closer to the figure, waving away the smoke and blinking one last time; gazing at the figure with his eyes wide and his mouth giving an exciting smile; he squeaked, but in his disappointment.
"Tadaa!" Asher presents the shape with his arms extending wide, but it was not the shape he intended.
A shape of a cooked Solapig appeared through the formed nectar, and when Asher took a quick glance at the shape, he immediately waves his hand and places the nectar back in his pocket, scratching his head in embarrassment.
"So sorry about that! I smelled a delicious Solapig just now and I can't help but put it in my head hehe"
"It's fine Asher, you can try another time when you come and visit again"
"Great! Thank you so much, Cousin!" He quickly places his arm on Holley's shoulder and rubs his hair.
The two finally reached the back door of the mansion, tidying themselves up one last time before entering, "Can't wait to eat some Solapig!" squeaked Asher as he licks his lips and rubs his hands together.
"Hehe, just make sure to give the nectar to my mother," said Holley as he checks his body for anything missing, patting his pockets and his shirt; and checking the locket he wore on his check to see if it was still hanging.
Holley swings the door open as they enter the mansion, putting their boots on a mat that shined bright light, making the dirt and the stuck small leaves disappear into specks of light. Holley closes the door while Asher drools over the smell of cooked meals from the dining room.
"Give the nectar to mother in the dining room, I think Aunt Alaysha has been waiting too long for it," said Holley.
"I know, and believe me, my mother is patient when it comes to food; she probably is not quite patient when it comes to m-"
Loud banging sounds echoed through the hall, shocking both Holley and Asher as they quickly turn their heads in front of the hall. The loud bang started to come closer and closer, with each bang it becomes faster onwards to them, and as one more loud bang rippled through their ears.
"ASHER VIVIENNE!" shouted a woman along with the loud sounds.
As Holley and Asher peeked through the hall, they saw Alaysha angrily walking towards them, her eyes squinted in anger with her eyebrows arching up and her mouth showing her gritting teeth. As Alaysha reaches the both of them, she suddenly extends her hand towards Asher's head, going behind it and grabbing his ear.
"Ow! Mom!" screamed Asher.
"You troublesome boy! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! I can't even eat with the thought that you're out there on your own! If your father hadn't convinced me, I would have used the trees to flush you out myself!" shouted Alaysha as she pinches Asher's ear.
"I was gone for an hour mom! Besides, Holley was also exploring with me"
"Oh no, you don't! I'm not going to let you drag Holley along," said Alaysha as she turns her head towards Holley, "Holley dear, thank you for finding my boy; I hope it wasn't too much trouble," said Alaysha as she smiles at Holley.
Holley tries his best to gain back his standing, trying not to stutter his words, "U-um y-yes, Actually. Asher helped me get the nectar, A-aunt Alaysha".
"See! I was helping Holley," said Asher struggling from his mother's grasp.
Alaysha looks at Holley as he tries to avert his gaze from her, turning her eyes back to Asher as he tries to smile and act innocent. After a moment, she takes a deep breath and lets go of Asher's ear, trying to clean up his hair and dusting off his shoulders.
"If you do that again, make sure there is someone with you; do you understand?" asks Alaysha softly, with little anger in her voice.
"I will mom! Besides, I have Holley with me now." Asher places his arms over Holley, locking him as he ruffles his hair.
Holley gives him a scowl, but was quickly replaced with a smile, "Ok! That's enough, let go of me now before my hair falls off".
As Alaysha continues to tidy Asher's clothing, Anna peeks her head out of the dining room doorway, seeing the three of them at the end of the hall. Anna quickly gets out of the room and into the hall, walking towards them with an apron over her clothes.
"Hello dear, did you get the nectar?" asks Anna.
"Yes, Asher has it".
"Here you go Aunt Anna" Asher waves her hand and the nectar flew out of his pocket, landing on Anna's opened hand.
"Oooh, high quality too; thank you both. But Holley, where's the jar?"
"U-um, it broke on the way here," said Holley as he puts both of his hands behind him and his head lowered slightly.
"Hmmm, ok; Alasyha come, I have the nectar for your dish. As with you two, we don't want the birthday boy to be missing his birthday feast, do we? Hehe"
The four of them entered the hallway and to the dining room, where Jared and Reginald feast on the meals prepared by Anna. Asher gazes at the delicious sight as he drools, while Alasyha wiped them with a marked leaf she summoned from her pocket, and as for Holley, he was looking for an empty chair to seat.
"Let's seat beside each other Holley!" said Asher happily as he gets two chairs from the table for them to seat upon.
All of them feast happily as time passes by, Reginald and Jared arguing about the Seraphim as they ate; Alasyha and Anna gossiping as she puts more meals on the table; and Holley, Asher, and the twins eating as they played and talked at the table during the time. The day went slowly as they had the time of their lives on Holley's birthday: the twins exploring the mansion as Holley and Asher try to stop them from knocking anything over as they do so; Anna, Reginald, Jared, and Alasyha having laughs in the dining room as they drank sacari wine. For Holley, it was the best birthday yet in his life, along with meeting new relatives; and Asher, who not only was his cousin but the very first friend he made. As the day starts to end, Holley and Anna wait at the mansion gates as Jared and his family pack their stuff on their carriage, ready to go back to their home.
"Thank you, Anna, for everything, this was the best!" Alasyha hugs Anna tightly before letting go, "And you too Holley, thank you for having us on your birthday!" She hugs Holley and pinches his cute cheeks.
"Your welcome, Aunt Alaysha!" said Holley.
Alaysha waves at them as she turns and goes inside the carriage waiting outside the gates. Jared however, walked towards them, hugging Anna as he too, thanks her for the wonderful day, "Thank you for this Anna, and thank you too, Holley!" He ruffles his hair as he hears Alaysha yelling for him to get inside.
The twins too, walked towards them and said their goodbyes, "Thank you for having us Aunt Anna! I had a great time!" said Alisa ecstatically.
"Me too Aunt Anna!" said Mia as she and Alisa wave their goodbyes and enter the carriage with their parents.
And lastly, "Goodbye Holley! I hope we get to play again, and next time, we are exploring the forest together!" said Asher as he places his arm on Holley's shoulder and hugs him a tight goodbye, finally waving at him as he enters the carriage.
Holley and Anna wave goodbye as the carriage floats up and flies out of their vicinity, going through the clouds and disappearing into the sky, leaving yellow specks of dust along its trail as it leaves. As Holley and Anna yield their hands, Reginald comes out of the mansion, walking towards them wearing a yellow cloak with fur embedded on the sides.
"I am also going too; I still have that damn order the Seraph gave me yesterday," said Reginald as he corrects his cloak.
"Okay Reginald" Anna hugs him tightly before letting go, "Thank you for coming"
"Oh, I wouldn't miss Holley's birthday for anything," said Reginald as he walks towards Holley, ruffling his hair.
Holley hugs his waist as he does so, "I hope you visit us again, Grandpa".
"Oh, I will my dear boy; besides, we are going to Arcadia next year with your Uncle Jared and his family, so be prepared hehe," said Reginald as he gives Holley a goodbye smile, "Well, I best be off now, goodbye you two and may Cyril watch over you".
As Reginald walks away from Holley and Anna, he turns to them as he reaches a distance, moving his shoulders as his giant wings come out from his back. With one flutter, he instantly leaves the ground and into the clouds, leaving Holley and Anna waving as he leaves the Gracewood Valley.
After Reginald left, Holley turns to Anna, "What did Grandpa mean when he said we're going to Arcadia? What is even Arcadia?" asks Holley.
"Arcadia is a city dear, a capital city in fact for the wolven, the third species that live in our world; which I failed to tell you about hehe," said Anna as she gives Holley an innocent smile.
"Oh, Asher told me about them when we were at the garden, are they the same as the elves or angels?"
"No, they are different Holley, but what we believe is still the same; they are a proud and mighty race, I know you will like them," said Anna as she places her hand on Holley's back and smiles, "I will tell you more about them when the day comes for us to visit, but in the meantime, let us get you ready for bedtime dear." Anna and Holley casually walk back inside their home, going about their routine.
The sky fills with clouds again, as usual, signifying their time for sleep. Holley wears his softest pajamas and enters his bed, laying down as Anna sits beside him with a book for her to read Holley to sleep. Soft words were the only sound Holley heard as he slowly drifts into a deep sleep, Anna smiling as he sees his sleeping face, kissing his forehead goodnight as she leaves his room; waving her hand to turn off the candlelight. Holley slept soundly through the night, dreaming about the great day he faced, and imagining what a wolven person looks like; and wondering if they are any more species that lived in their world of Divinia; And as days passed, it was now time to journey to the great city of the wolven — Arcadia City.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone